Moriarty, A. Horowitz (ed. Orion Publishing Ltd)

/!\ I give my opinion of this book even if I already had reviewed The House of Silk because it can be read like a single book or like a series.

Information

Moriarty, A. Horowitz (ed. Orion Publishing Ltd)

Page number: 400

Language: English

Price: £8,99 (€10,37)

Release date: November 2015

Themes: Crime – Enigmas – Investigation – Detective story – Detective

Rating: 5/5

Summary

Days after Holmes and Moriarty fall to their death at the Reichenbach Falls, London is in the grip of a diabolical new criminal mastermind.

The discovery of a brutally murdered body in a leafy suburb catches the attention of Pinkerton agent, Frederick Chase, freshly arrived from New York. Accompanied by Inspector Athelney Jones, a devoted student of Holmes’ methods of investigation and deduction, Chase must forge a path through the darkest corners of the capital to shine a light on this shadowy figure; a man determined to engulf London in a tide of murder and menace.

The game is afoot …

Review

All in all, the book is not too long when you read it even if the chapters are a little long, but every chapter is a piece of the puzzle that is created by the author. The story is astonishing because you search at the same time as the two main characters what happened, but you are in the mist, and when you least expect it, you have a big cliffhanger. Sometimes the author exposes some clues to you, and you can search the solution, it is playful. However, there is a chapter of explications, and it is the only one who is long yet a little too long. In fact, it could be a littlest longer.

Moreover, the author masters the different universes. The two big universes in the book are London in the nineteenth century and Sherlock Holmes universe. Firstly, we have the London in the nineteenth century. Like I have already say in the House of Silk review, in this century everything is black or white you do not have a middle. Secondly, you have the Sherlock Holmes universe, with many hints from Doyle’s work. Though Antony Horowitz creates a new whole story and while you are reading you searching that is the wrong guy, you cannot find him because it is hard, but you have many hypotheses. During the books, a lot happen, and sometimes you are afraid that the characters will die prematurely because they always are in dangerous situations.

Finally, the main characters are two sides of the same coin. Indeed, Frederick Chase is an American guy who will work with the Inspector to find the bad guy. He bases his technics of investigations on clues, testimonies, and he dedicates his life to his work. So Chase has no wife, no children. On the other hand, Inspector Athelney Jones is a fervent admirer of Sherlock Holmes so after an injury he decides to devote his recovery to learn all the Sherlock Holmes’ method. He has a wife that he loves and a little daughter.

Conclusion: I love this second story of Anthony Horowitz with Sherlock Holmes’ universe. I hope there will be a new one soon.